OTTAWA, June 23, 2021 - Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette tabled Bill S-203 to modernize the composition of boards of directors of certain corporations, financial institutions and parent Crown corporations, and in particular to ensure balanced representation of women and men on those boards. (more…)
Post under ‘Boards of Directors’ tag
Harper`s conservatives are against women`s equality
3 February 2021 at 20h18
OTTAWA, February 3, 2021 – Senators Conservatives kill Bill S-206, An Act to establish gender parity on the board of directors of certain corporations, financial institutions and parent Crown corporations.
Senator Hervieux-Payette denounces the Conservatives’ refusal to give women the right to be equally represented on boards of directors.
“The Conservatives have a particularly regressive view of women in our society. In this case, they absolutely do not believe they are entitled to equal representation with men on boards of directors of our companies, “said Senator Hervieux-Payette.
Numerous studies and witnesses who testified before the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce on Bill S-206 demonstrated that greater diversity in boards of directors leads to greater economic performance.
“The Conservatives are unable to put aside their medieval reformist ideology even when it comes to improving the effectiveness of our businesses in the aftermath of a major economic crisis. How can we still think they are good managers when they do not want to reform boards that were one of the culprits behind one of the biggest economic crises in modern history? “continued the Senator.
Conservative senators killed Bill S-206 by refusing to vote clause by clause and demanding that the proceedings be in-camera.
“The Conservatives have once again shown their contempt for our democratic institutions and their lack of transparency by voting for in-camera discussions to finally refuse to vote on my bill. A situation the Harper Conservatives never cease to reproduce. It is shameful for our democracy, “concluded Senator Hervieux-Payette.
The Liberal Party of Canada believes that the strength of Canadian society is dependent on the full participation of women in our economy, our government and all the country’s decision-making processes.
Les Conservateurs de Harper s’opposent à l’égalité des femmes !
3 February 2021 at 20h14
OTTAWA, le 03 février 2011 – Les Sénateurs Conservateurs tuent le projet de loi S-206, Loi visant à assurer la parité de genre dans les conseils d’administration de certaines personnes morales, institutions financières et sociétés d’État mères.
Le Sénateur Hervieux-Payette dénonce le refus des Conservateurs de donner aux femmes le droit d’être représentées de manière égale au sein des Conseils d’administration.
« Les Conservateurs ont une vision particulièrement régressive de la femme dans notre société. En l’espèce, ils ne croient absolument pas qu’elles ont droit à la même représentation que les hommes au sein des conseils d’administration de nos entreprises » a déclaré le Sénateur Hervieux-Payette.
Nombreuses études et témoins venus discuter du projet de loi S-206 devant le Comité permanent des banques et du commerce, attestent qu’une plus grande diversité dans un conseil d’administration est le gage d’une meilleure efficacité économique.
« Les Conservateurs sont incapables de mettre de côté leur idéologie réformiste moyenâgeuse même quand il s’agit d’améliorer l’efficacité de nos entreprises au lendemain d’une crise majeure. Comment peut-on encore penser qu’ils sont de bons gestionnaires quand ils ne veulent pas réformer les conseils d’administration qui ont été l’un des acteurs de l’une des plus grandes crises économiques de notre histoire moderne ? » a poursuivi le Sénateur.
Les Sénateurs Conservateurs ont tué le projet de loi S-206 en refusant de le voter article par article et en exigeant le huis-clos.
« Les Conservateurs ont une nouvelle fois démontré leur mépris de nos institutions démocratiques et leur manque de transparence en votant le huis clos pour finalement refuser de voter sur mon projet de loi. Une situation inédite qu’ils ne cessent de reproduire. C’est déshonorant pour notre démocratie » a conclu le Sénateur Hervieux-Payette.
Le Parti Libéral du Canada croit que la force de la société canadienne repose sur la pleine participation des femmes à notre économie, à notre gouvernement et à tous les processus décisionnels du pays.
Coalition for gender parity on Canadian boards of directors
19 April 2021 at 14h23
Women and men must be equally represented on our boards of directors. While the Constitution recognizes gender equality, corporate Canada has clearly not made enough progress in this area.
Given that women are actively involved in the corporate community as business owners, shareholders, executives, managers and employees, and they play an equally important role in the marketplace as consumers, they should have equal representation on boards of directors.
Financial institutions experienced a crisis that plunged the world economy into a deep recession and showed there is no longer a place in today’s society for boards that lack diversity in their membership and perspectives. We need women board members who will introduce new approaches to management problems and reject the groupthink that may have contributed to our current global financial crisis.
According to the research organization Catalyst, women make up 47% of the Canadian labour force but only 14% of board seats among the 500 largest Canadian companies surveyed by the Financial Post. Women’s representation on the boards of publicly traded companies still stands at only 10.3% (29.1% for Crown corporations). Close to one-third of the companies ranked in the Financial Post 500 had two or more women on their boards, but 41.9% still do not have any women board members. At this rate, only one out of five board seats will be held by women by 2020.
As many industrialized countries have discovered, legislation is needed to achieve gender parity in the corporate world. Switzerland, Norway and Spain have passed laws requiring women’s representation on boards to reach 40% within six years. France is working on legislation as well. According to Corporate Knights, only 9% of board seats in Norway were held by women in 2003. That percentage has risen to 44% since the country brought in legislation in 2008.
The Government of Quebec passed a law requiring Crown corporations to have 50% female representation on their boards of directors by 2011.
Given corporate inaction and the slow progress seen so far, the Parliament of Canada must also pass legislation to show that gender parity on Canadian boards of directors is an essential part of our society.
I SUPPORT THE PRINCIPLE OF BILL S-206 TO ESTABLISH GENDER PARITY ON THE BOARDS OF DIRECTORS OF CROWN CORPORATIONS AND PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES.
To give your support, download the petition here and send it back to the address on the form either by email (by scanning the document) or by mail. Letters mailed to MPs and senators do not require a stamp. Thank you!
Nicolas G. Hayek, founder of Swatch, condemns the dominance of the “acrobats and jugglers in the financial circus”.
15 July 2021 at 14h06“Final example: the guy who proposed that I buy into a company that was very expensive and active mainly in textiles, while I’m a watchmaker. “That doesn’t matter,” he told me, “we’ll start some rumours in the market that will make the share value fall, and as for the textiles, we’ll look after that part.” All this illustrates the really deplorable mindset of some market professionals. And the worst thing is, thinking that a publically-traded company should be managed with this mindset”. - Nicolas G. Hayek.
